


I’m Here

by EleenaDume



Series: Spop fics! [6]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora and Catra and Entrapta are also mentioned, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Catradora is hinted at, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Cuddling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Feelings Realization, Fluff and Angst, Glimbow-centric, Minor Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sharing a Bed, Spooning, but is off-screen for this one, but they’re not actually ‘on screen’
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:08:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24766729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EleenaDume/pseuds/EleenaDume
Summary: Some nights were alright.Some nights were bad.And some nights were terrible.Bow was there to remind Glimmer that she wasn’t alone during all of them.Takes place in between “Taking Control” and “Perils of Peekablue”.TW: PTSD-induced panic attacks.
Relationships: Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Series: Spop fics! [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1791085
Comments: 10
Kudos: 129





	I’m Here

**Author's Note:**

> Glimmer is very heavily implied to also be traumatized in “Save the Cat”, and while it’s definitely different from Catra’s trauma, I imagine it’s pretty bad as well, so instead of writing the seven other concepts that are flying around in my notes, I decided to write this one because it jumped at me randomly way too early in the morning.  
> This assumes that traveling from Etheria to Prime’s flagship and back took them about three weeks each with their old ship, their limited knowledge of it and the lack of any ability to teleport or create portals. I have no idea if that’s accurate, but then again, nobody really knows how much time passes during the show.  
> I know that there are technically no “nights” in space, but they still have some sort of day-night-rhythm, and night in this case just refers to the time they are all sleeping – or should be, at least.

Glimmer‘s body tensed up in Bow‘s arms while she slept, just like it had happened the nights before, ever since Catra had teleported her off of Prime‘s ship.

He was still awake, hugging her gently to remind her he was there, and always on the lookout for signs of another panic attack like the one he had witnessed about two weeks earlier.

He rubbed her back.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m here. I will never let him hurt you again, I promise.”

For the first few nights after she’d been freed from Prime’s ship, she’d suffered through her terrors alone – not wanting to reach out to Bow too early, because he was allowed to stay mad at her for a while. Because she didn’t want to overstrain his good will after everything they’d went through, or to burden him or Adora with her silly nightmares considering everything else that was going on. What kind of terrible friend would she be if she’d do that?

Well, that facade had been smashed and crumbled completely about two days before they’d arrived at Prime’s ship.

She’d promised Adora she would help her rescue Catra – stars, there was a part of her that had started to like Catra when they had both been prisoners, and she had saved her, after all –, but the closer they got to Prime’s flagship, the worse her nightmares got.

This had eventually culminated in a full-blown panic attack, and after half a night of sobbing and thrashing around in her own bed, she’d gotten up, and had told Bow, still crying and entire body trembling, that she understood that he was still mad at her, and that it was okay, and if he needed more time, but-

By then he’d already gotten out of bed, put his arms around her and told her that of course she could stay.

No matter how mad he was at her... seeing her so upset and scared shattered his heart to pieces.

He’d never seen her like this before – not even after her mother died. And it terrified him. 

He couldn’t take it.

Glimmer had slept in his bed every night after that.

Some nights were alright.

She’d flaked out and had been fast asleep until morning after long days of planning the rescue mission – planning itself hadn’t been easy for her, either. He had seen the way her body tensed whenever Horde Prime or the flagship were mentioned – he still saw it, now that they were on their way back home, whenever they talked about what had happened –, and he had eventually decided that comforting her by holding her hand, despite still being mad at her, was alright for him.

Not that staying mad at her was easy. She’d made mistakes, there was no denying that... but he knew her well enough to know that her apology was sincere, and that even if he were to never forgiven her, this would still be the first and last time she’d made a mistake like this.

Also, staying mad at  _anyone_ – especially at Glimmer –, had never been his strong suit. She was his best friend after all... and, at the same time, so much more than that. They’d been inseparable ever since they were little, and he couldn’t imagine his life without her – and even if he could have,  _ he didn’t want to . _

He hated fighting with her. He hated being mad at her.

He... he could have lost her. She could have been gone by now. The thought terrified him in a way that nothing had ever terrified him before. It made him sick to the stomach. 

He hugged her tighter.

...Adora was to Catra what Glimmer was to him, wasn’t she? Just that she had needed her even more desperately, because they’d grown up in such a toxic environment. He hadn’t always been able to be honest with his dads, and Glimmer’s mother had driven her insane sometimes... but neither of their parents would have ever thought of hurting them, especially not on purpose.

That didn’t make everything Catra had done alright, of course. It was far from that. 

But he was starting to understand her better – he could definitely see how everything that had happened could drive someone in her situation over the edge. 

Catra actually seemed to be a decent person when she wasn’t trying to kill them, so he was willing to give her another chance as long as she kept on working on herself and didn’t hurt his friends again.

He was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts as Glimmer stirred in his arms again.

Most of the nights weren’t good. More were since they’d started traveling back home, away from Horde Prime... but there were still a lot of nights that Glimmer thrashed around in her sleep, that she woke up screaming and crying and unable to catch her breath.

Some nights were bad. 

And some nights were terrible.

Glimmer woke up in cold sweat. She felt dizzy, her heart was beating out of her chest, and she felt almost nauseous. For a moment, all she could see was green eyes in the pitch black room. She screamed and backed away until her back hit the wall.

“Glimmer... Glimmer, it’s okay. It’s just me. You’re safe.”

The voice was soothing and weirdly familiar. And then, all of a sudden, the green eyes disappeared, and she jolted up, back into reality.

She was... she was on the ship. She’d been on the First One’s ship for weeks. She was... she was... scared and confused, and threw her arms around her best friend like there was no tomorrow.

She needed this. More than she would like to admit. 

She was completely freaked out and was positive she’d forgotten how to breathe, and it was getting worse and worse and worse and-

“Glimmer, it’s okay.” He stroked her head. “You’re here. With me. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

“Bow...” She sobbed into his chest. “I-I’m so cold...”

Seeing his best friend this hurt and afraid and broken caused physical pain. She’d been through so much lately. She didn’t deserve this.

For a while, they just sat there and he hugged her shivering body tight because that seemed to be the only thing that calmed her down, if only slightly.

"It will be okay. I promise. You can get through this. I know you can.”

“B-but-“

Her entire body was shaking. 

She was so stuck in her terror that it made her completely unable to form words properly, even less sentences.

“No. It’s okay. It’s okay.”

He let go of her and offered her his hands to hold. She took them with shaking hands.

“I-“

The words still didn’t come.

"Concentrate on your breathing. Stay in the present. Count to ten with me, alright? Like we practiced."

She nodded slowly, closing her eyes and squeezing his hands as they counted, her breaths slowly growing steadier. She was still panicking, still scared, but his voice was calm and soft and his hands in hers felt nice and warm and kept her in reality.

He was so patient with her. He was  always so patient with her. She was pretty certain Bow was the most amazing person in the entire universe.

How she deserved someone like him in her life, especially after how badly she had messed up, was beyond her.

“I- I’m s-sorry I-I‘m so m-messed u-up,“ she sobbed.

She was still shaking, but she wasn’t quite as trapped in her head anymore.

He just held her and rubbed her back.

“You did good, okay? I’m so proud of you.” She buried her head in his chest. He went back to stroking her head gently. “And you’re not messed up. You’ve just been through a lot lately. I don’t think any of us will get out of this battle without scars. But that doesn’t make us broken.” He smiled at her. “You’re one of the strongest people I know. You’ve gotten through so much already. We’ll work through this, too.”

“W-we?”

She looked up at him, her arms still wrapped around him tightly. 

Touching him calmed her down.  _** It always had. ** _

Bow nodded.

“Of course. You’re my best friend, Glimmer. And you don’t have to do this alone, okay? I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere.”

Her breathing was steadier now, her hands not shivering as much when she lifted them to her face to wipe her tears away.

“Bow, I-“ She cut herself off mid-sentence. “Thank you. For being so patient with me, and calming me down and- still wanting to be my best friend, even after everything that happened. You’re amazing. You’re the best friend anyone could ever wish for.”

“Anytime.” He squeezed her hand. “Do you need anything else?” She shook her head. “Do... do you want to go back to sleep?”

“I... yeah. That... that might be good. Can... can I be the big spoon?“

Bow smiled.

“Always.” He hugged her one more time. “So... do I want to sleep with the lights on today?”

She smiled softly. He asked her this every time she woke up from a nightmare, ever since the first night she had slept on his bed here.

She’d freaked out when he’d turned the lights back off that night, and then told him through sobs that saying she wanted to leave them would make her feel like a little girl and that she hated that. 

He’d retorted ‘ _Well, maybe_ **_ I _ ** _want to leave the lights on._ ’

And now he always asked if he wanted to leave them on because that made her feel less weird about it.

Stars, how was he this perfect...

“No... I... I think I’m okay now. Better at least. But... thank you.”

They laid back down and Bow pulled the blanked back over them as she took him into her arms.

Glimmer liked being the big spoon sometimes. She liked holding him, and she loved the way it made her feel strong and big when she was feeling so small and vulnerable.

Being the little spoon made her feel loved and protected, and she liked that just as much... but some nights it was easier if she had something to hold onto.

“And Bow?” She said after a while.

“Yeah?”

“Do me a favor and actually sleep this time, okay? You can’t exactly reprimand Adora for not sleeping enough if you stay up all night watching over me.”

Adora didn’t even need to be reprimanded as much anymore. Both of them were certain that they’d never seen her as happy and relaxed as she was since she had Catra back, and especially since Catra had made up with Entrapta.

Sure, she was still her usual ‘ _I need to save the galaxy all on my own_ ’ -level of stressed, but something had changed since Catra was on the ship.

This fact was extremely hard to miss – after all, even Entrapta had picked up on it, and she wasn’t exactly an expert on picking up social cues.

How had she put it again? 

‘ _ Adora’s smile rate goes up by at least twenty percent whenever Catra is in the room _ _’_ , or something.

“I... can’t sleep when I’m not sure you’ll sleep through the night,” Bow admitted, interrupting her thoughts. “I hate seeing you like this.”

“That’s...” Her voice cracked. “That’s so sweet of you. I appreciate it, I really do... but you need to sleep.”

“Promise me you’ll wake me up if you need help again?”

She nodded.

“I promise.”

Bow was the first one to doze off this time. Glimmer didn’t mind. She was comfortable and warm and felt save now. He’d gotten really good at battling her fears with her these past few weeks. 

She loved him for that, and for so many other things. She was so incredibly thankful to have him in her life.

His body felt so nice against hers. His hair smelled pretty good, too. And then she caught herself thinking about kissing him again, like she had so many times during these past few years.

_ I think I love you. I think I **love** you, love you. _

She could at least admit that to herself now, and although the thought still terrified her – the same way it always had when it had crossed her mind over the years to abruptly be banished into the darkest depths of denial again –, it also made her smile, if only a little.

For the rest of the night, the two of them slept peacefully.

**Author's Note:**

> So, uuuhm... did anyone ask for angst? No? Well, have some anyway.
> 
> The idea just kind of popped into my head, and, well, we need more Glimbow-content anyway.  
> This also adds some more meaning to Bow reaching for Glimmer’s hand while they are asleep in “Failsafe“, and it’s an additional reason why they could be cuddling in “Don’t go”. Just saying.  
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed it!  
> Feedback is always appreciated, comments especially. Thank you for reading!
> 
> This is also up on my tumblr.
> 
> ...and I’m already writing a spin-off ficlet about Catradora and Glimbow goofing around the next morning because I have no self-control. Whoops.  
> Edit: I’m done with the sequel! Here it is: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25208497  
> Or you can just click on the “Next Work”-button.


End file.
